Back in Dec...hubby got our 11 yr old son a GARRETT ACE 150....one of those $150 ones. My son was excited, used it once or two and lost interest. It sat in the corner till April..when hubby started reading about metal detectors and treasure hunting mag (which he has since subscribe too). Well, we have always wanted a detector, now we have one and it sits there...so when hubby was showing me pics of what ppl were finding, I get the detector and do the yard....finding more junk (nails, window casings, shotgun shells, etc, maybe a penny here and there) and was like, "These is a waste of money. It only finds junk!!!"
Well, after our vacation in April, came home and decided to do the yard again....with each time I detected, would find more coins, then I found my spoon!! Well, it might not be much to anyone else, but it was exciting to me....it was very very deep and inbedded in the clay!!! So, I have been hooked. Even found a 1959 Silver Dime in the front yard, just recently...got a 1962 one also, but I can't remember where we found that one

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So for Mother's Day and my birthday combo present (only two weeks apart)...hubby bought me the MineLab Explorer II....and ordered an extra coil (18"). Well, I took it to the oceanfront and nothing much but a couple of pennies. I did the water, where I found a few pennies. It worked great. I had to lower the threshold to kill some of that background noise though.
But I have given that detector back to hubby, it's too heavy for me and I can not get use to the sounds. I am so use to my son's detector. So he will get me one like my son, just one grade up. And I am happy with that. I have had some pretty good luck with it....Infact, in our backyard, hubby was lucky to find a 10K G.F. & Sterling ring with the Minelab!!
Hubby likes the Minelab and has had some great hits.....even though I found it easy to use in the surf...hubby was not use to it. So, a bit more patience and usage, he will like it. He has used the 18" inch coil a few times, he did not find it going any deeper than the 14" coil....I guess once we get away from the beach, the 18" coil will better serve him.
The Minelab is good, but for me....simple is better. It has too many things for me to be concerned about

And I found it worked great in the surf!!